After Eric left, Norton had turned very different which set Rae’s instinct off instantly as he had very high perception and senses.
Norton radiated a ferocious aura. ‘As expected of a person with his titles and strength,’ thought Rae.
Norton picked up two steel swords that were lying around and handed one to Rae. Rae had only ever held a wooden sword and shinai before and felt that the sword was much heavier, both physically and insignificance.
“I’m going to beat you black and blue for a month. Prepare, goblin!” Norton shouted.
Rae did his breathing ritual and prepared himself.
This time it was not Rae who initiated, but Norton. He dashed at him with about half his strength, as he could easily demolish Rae if he went all out. Assuming Rae didn’t utilize his magic, that is.
Norton slashed downward at Rae, but Rae sidestepped to the right attempting to slash at his neck, but Norton grabbed Rae’s left hand and tossed him out of the arena they were in and into a tree that was nearby so hard, it made an indentation.
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『Akashic System』Endurance +1!
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‘Oi, you muscle freak! Aren’t you supposed to be training me, not killing me?! That hurt like hell even with「Pain Resistance」, you know?!’ Rae cursed inwardly. If Norton hadn’t used only half his strength and Rae didn’t have high endurance and regeneration, a normal person would have had most of their bones broken. Rae being able to come out of that aside from intense pain, proved the resilience of his mutated body and『Origin Vampire』title.
After Rae separated himself from the tree, he got up and took his stance again with both hands on the handle of his sword.
‘Looks like this bugger’s body is stronger than I thought. I used a bit too much power on accident since he’s so aggressive and tiny. If only the greenhorns were this sturdy,’ thought Norton in disappointment. If Rae heard him, he would have cursed him even more.
Although it was an accident, Norton looked at Rae in his stance and said, “You can take a beating, goblin! Good!”
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What Norton had said, irritated Rae a little, but he had no right to speak out against him as a slave, and more so as someone stronger than him.
Rae used a full powered「Dash」, but this time instead of using his sword, he threw it as fast as possible. As the sword was flying through the air, Rae swerved to Norton’s left to get behind him but was met with a kick in the abdomen afterward as Norton deflected the airborne sword.
It spun and plunged into the ground a few feet away from them with a slight metallic ring.
‘FUCK! Damn it, that hurt too,’ Rae complained. He got up again to think about what happened.
Why was he being so aggressive against someone obviously stronger than him? ‘I suppose I was a bit excited at being in a new world and doing things Earthlings only dreamed possible, but if I wasn’t training and facing off against someone who wanted to kill me, I’d be dead already. Well, I am training, but that doesn’t mean I have to go about it in a foolish manner. If Kawazoe Sensei were to see this, I’d be beaten by her like before,’ reminisced Rae.
He walked over to his sword and slapped himself on both sides of the face to calm himself down before pulling the sword out. He then turned to Norton, calmed his breathe and focused his mind. He should run if he was fighting against such an overwhelming opponent like Norton, but they were training so he decided to take it more slowly instead of being all out aggressive. Yes, this was training. Not a life or death battle. Rae just needed to gain experience which he sorely lacked.
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『Akashic System』Wisdom +1!
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Norton noticed the change in Rae. ‘Looks like he’s calmed down and focused now. I’ll start off slowly and work my way up see how much he can handle.’
Norton charged toward Rae and again slashed forward, but this time Rae blocked his strike with his sword. They then began to exchange blow after blow. The sound of metal clanging and bouncing off each other and sparks flying permeated the surrounding area.
After a full hour of sparring, Rae collapsed. ‘Even Kawazoe Sensei never worked me this hard and we’re using real swords instead of a shinai.’
“You have 5 minutes of rest and we’ll do 「Barehanded Combat」.” While Rae was collapsed, Norton was standing without a drop of sweat on him as if they were doing nothing for the past hour.
Although Norton had a blank expression, he was actually very impressed with the goblin. ‘This goblin was so aggressive at the beginning but after his failed attempt, he quickly realized we were training and focused more on learning than winning. Even when we first sparred, he planned from the very beginning to take out my eye. Granted, he was told to go all out by Eric, but still. The goblins I've trained take much longer to get his idea into their heads and all of them only get it when they evolve into a hobgoblin. To be able to adapt and adapt well is what makes us humans so strong in the first place. This goblin is more than “just a mutated goblin”.’
As Norton was thinking about how Rae was upending his preconceived notion of the goblin, Rae was barely able to let out a groan, “Yes, Master.”